If you’ve not yet decided to use a password manager for your myriad logins online, it’s time you took a look at one of the best options around: LastPass. Many people are cautious about using a password manager, while others are often just undecided about which services are safe enough to use. LastPass is one of the safest password managers around and it is made especially useful by being available as a plugin for a wide variety of browsers.

Today, we’ll take a detailed look at LastPass for Firefox and how this tool can give you peace of mind in regards to password safety, make your browsing simple and to actually make it easy for you use more complicated passwords. Read on if your online security is ready for an overhaul.

About LastPass For Firefox

LastPass is available free for most browsers, covering every operating system including smartphones (with LastPass Premium). Get started by installing the LastPass Firefox browser extension, creating a LastPass account and slowly adding all your login information to LastPass with daily usage. It can be used for anything you need to remember a password for, thus eliminating the need to remember it any more. Social networks, online shops, banking passwords and more can all be stored securely within LastPass. You can also store basic information, such as name and address, that often need to be entered into forms online.

Or, if you have previously stored details, it will offer to automatically fill in the form for you. If you have multiple logins, you’ll be able to pick from a list of stored login details with the username as an indicator of which one to choose.

If you access LastPass via the Firefox Add-ons Manager or the LastPass website, you can tweak your settings further to suit your needs. By logging into the LastPass website, you can also import or export all of your passwords to or from Firefox. In the LastPass website, you can also access your Vault and view any password information you may have forgotten.

If you also use another computer or browser, you can install LastPass for that device or browser too and your details will be synchronised across systems for you. Your local passwords in Firefox can be imported to LastPass and exported back to Firefox at any time as a backup. If you do this, it’s a good idea to ensure Firefox is protected with a strong master password so that you don’t compromise your security this way.

LastPass Premium

For $12 per year (yes, $1 per month) you can upgrade to LastPass Premium, which allows you to install LastPass on your smartphone and do all sorts of other nifty tricks. Premium users can set up multifactor authentication using a USB key and much more.

LastPass Security

LastPass encrypts and decrypts your password information locally, so it’s never being transferred in an unencrypted format. LastPass uses SSL and encypts using 256-Bit AES, so the data stored at LastPass is unusable to LastPass staff and anyone snooping on the network while data is transferred.

Because all of your login information is stored in LastPass, you’re logging in with one mouse click rather than typing, which is added protection against Wi-Fi snooping and keystroke logging.

An added benefit of having your passwords stored and recalled for you is that you can choose very strong passwords. LastPass will even offer to generate a very strong random password for you. If you’re using LastPass on all your devices, you’ll never have to remember it anyway, so you can take advantage of this extra security.

The very security-conscious users can set up their LastPass master login information using a USB device, use an on-screen keyboard to avoid keystroke logging, set up one-time master passwords for dubious networks and more.

Rather than sharing passwords with friends via email, you can share them with LastPass.

Conclusion

LastPass is easy to use, secure and will actually improve your online security by allowing you to set up stronger passwords that you don’t have to recall yourself. LastPass for Firefox is free, so there’s no reason not to give it a go right now!

You write :- "There is no button within Firefox to use LastPass" - but there is, complete with a drop down menu of options. If it is not on your toolbar you can drag it there from the customise toolbars icon selection box.

I'm surprised you say that as there is quite a lot of functionality in the drop-down, though I admit I mainly use it for quickly accessing my vault, which itself has improved functions since the last major up-date. I suppose using LastPass as a fit-and-forget app must have some merit, but I like to tinker!.

Premium customers have smartphone access, USB authentication and a few other tricks. But almost everything is available for regular customers, so you shouldn't lose anything service-wise if you're just saving passwords through your browser.

I also use LastPass (because of MakeUseof :))
I have a premium version and it's amazing, very simple to use and of course not confusing at all to use. Until recently I've been using Keepass, but LastPass is easier. I definitely recommend it.

I have used a client app called Access Manager 2 for years which has served my purposes. However the downside to that is its only accessible via my computer. Recently I have been using Passpack which is great. Its online, secure and there is a free version (limited to 100 passwords).

Ive used a client called Access Manager 2 which has been ideal, the only downside is that you need to access your computer to get your passwords. Recently I have been using Passpack and find it very good. There is a free version which is limited to 100 passwords but at least I can look things up as and when needed....

Comparing this to Norton Identity Safe, what is a better option? I am trying to figure out which one to go with as I have to always uninstall Norton and install it again after a new release of FF to use the password management system. Long story - but its very annoying. But I have two concerns with LastPass that are preventing me from installing it:
- Our passwords are stored in the cloud as opposed to locally which Norton does which means a higher security risk.
- Because I have over 100 accounts it is important for me to import and export however this isn't free with LastPass.
So choosing between these two have being a real pain.

I can't really say which is better because I've never used Norton, but to help with the decision I'll mention that LastPass encrypt and decrypt passwords locally, so there's nothing unencrypted going over a network or resting in the cloud.

Also, you can import without upgrading just using the extension. Give it a try!